The conventional construction of hatchback vehicle bodies includes a rear hatchback with a rear hatch that is mounted for movement between open and closed positions with respect to a rear opening in the vehicle body. Hinges are conventionally mounted at a forward end of the opening in the vehicle body and support the hatch for movement about a horizontal axis between the open and closed positions. Normally, a fixed glass window is provided in the hatch to permit the driver and any passengers to view the area to the rear of the vehicle body through the conventional rearview mirror or otherwise.
Different types of top closures have previously been utilized with vehicle bodies to selectively permit opening of the passenger compartment top to the environment when desired. For example, convertible type vehicles include a soft top closure having a frame that is moved between raised and stored positions and a soft top that is moved by the frame between open and closed positions. Such convertible soft top closures conventionally extend between the rear of the vehicle passenger compartment and the front windshield header in the closed position and are stored to the rear of the passenger compartment in the open position where the top of the passenger compartment is exposed.
Convertible soft top closures have been replaced to a large extent in domestically manufactured vehicles by hard top closures of the single panel or the dual panel T-top type. With a single panel top, a single removable roof panel extends between the windshield header and a rear roof portion in the closed position and is removed to expose the top of the passenger compartment to the environment. A pair of roof panels are utilized with T-tops and are respectively located in the closed position on opposite sides of a central strut that extends longitudinally between the windshield header and a rear roof portion. Suitable latches are utilized to hold the pair of roof panels in the closed position and to selectively permit removal thereof so that the vehicle body has a pair of openings that expose the passenger compartment.
Also, Toyota type vehicles such as disclosed by the February, 1980 issue of Motor Trend magazine has previously utilized a soft top closure for replacing the conventional rear window. In the open position, the soft top closure opens the area normally occupied by the rear window and in the closed position closes that area when necessary or desired for whatever reason.
Rear vehicle windows have also previously been removable without the provision of any soft top closure, such as on the Corvette type vehicle manufactured by General Motors Corporation of Detroit, Mich., United States of America.